Springfield daily republic. [volume] (Springfield, O. [Ohio]) 1887-1888, 1887-09-03

| steering, and where We learned the second
| lake Of which the wanderer had spoken a.
the lake without bottom, was situated A,
length we arrived there, and having ascer
tained that there was large lake on the TOP
Of the mountains, assembled 5000 feet more
till we came to n precipitous cliff or edge, &c
find a great sheet Of water, some twenty miles
square. lying 800 feet below us and evidently
occupying an extinct volcanic crater OF
cratcrs Of vast extent. Perceiving villages
on the border of this lake. we descended with
great difficulty through forests Of pine trees
! which now clothed the precipitous sides of
| the crater, and were well received by the
| people u simple, unwarlike folk, who had
never seen or even heard of a white man be
fore, and treated us with great reverence
and kindness, supplying Us with as much
food and milk as We could ent and drink
This wonderful and beautiful lake lay, &c
! cording to our aneroid, at height Of no less
than IL 40 feet above sea level and its eli
mate was quite cold, and not at all unlike
that of England. Indeed, for the first three
days of our stay there we saw little or
nothing of the scenery. on account of an un-
mistakable Scotch mist which prevailed. It
was this rain that set the tsetse poison work
ing in our remaining donkeys, SO that they
all died
This disaster left US in q very awk ward po-
sition As We had now no means Of transport
whatever, though, on the other hand, We had
not much to carry. Ammunition, too was
very short, amounting to but $50 rounds of
ride cartridges and some fifty shotgun car
tridg,s. How to get on we did hot know: in
deed it seemed to us that We had about
reached the end Of our tetber. Even If We
had been inclin d to abandon the object Of
our search, which, shadow as 1t was, was by
no means the case, it was ridiculous to think
of forcing our way back some 200 miles to the
coast in our present plight; so We came to the
conclusion that tine only thing to be done Was
to stop where We were-the natives being so
well dispo ed and food plentful-for the pres
ent, and abide events arc try to collect infor-
nation as to the countries beyond.
Accordingly, having purchased a capital
log canoe, large enough to hold US all and
our baggage. from the headinan Of tho VII
laye We were staying in, presenting him with
three empty cold drawn brass car ridges by
way of payment, with which he was perfectly
delighted, We set out to make a tour Of the
lake in order to find the mos. favorable place
to make a camp As we did not know il We
should return TO this village, we put all our
gear into the canoe, and also a quarter Of
cooked water buck which VIII n young is deli
cious eating, and otf we set. natives having
already gone before us in light canoes to warn
the inhabitants of the other villages Of our
approach.
As we went We began to pass a considera-
bic accumulation of q ating rushes, weed,
boughs of trees. and other rubbish, brought,
Good supposed, TO this spot by some current,
which he was much puzzled to account for
While We Were speculating about this, Sir
Henry pointed out n flock Of large white
swans, which We're feeding on the drift some
little way ahead Of us Now l had already
noticed swans flying about this lake, and
having never come across them before in
Africa, was exceedingly anxious TO obtain u
specimen. l had questioned the natives
about them, and learned that th; Y came from
over the mounta H. always arriving at certain
periods OF the year in the early morning,
when 1t was very easy 10 catch them, on ac
count Of their exhaust d condition
Well, We set To work To stalk the swans.
which kept drawing As they fed nearer and
nearer to the precipice, and ut last we pushed
the canoe under shelter of a patch of drift
within forty yards Of them Sir Henry had
the shotgun loaded with No. l, and waiting
for chance, got two in a line, and. firing at
their necks. killed them both Up rose the
rest, thirty or more of them. with a mighty
splashing, and, As they did so. he gave them
the other barrel Down came one fellow with
q broken wing. and saw the leg Of another
drop and few feathers start out Of his back,
but he went on quite strong. Up went the
swans, circling ever higher till at last they
s W i:lele spe.As ie,e' win tne .op ot the
e f P'e, With s0" 'pe"i 10TH
n.o VI ,'ie,e anu heao on ior 'ne unhho"h
Nv. 'n.S' -neai"niie we i,ai Pichs up our
t"o uead oheS, anu u@autiiui n'rus they "ere'
"hn"s nv. Hes .nai aoou' 'hir's Pouh"s
ran, a. anu "eie SnsSnis 'he "n'sen one,
VIII, "niIu ua' sSiuliip'ei over mass OF arns
mesi INTO poor oi clear water beyond
. Iinuins a uiiiiTuuS IN forcing the canoe
'ne uo'iSn, Uo'u our ohis remain
Hs :" van SCI |"h'' "no'ii Knew 70 pe an
AeeIen. swimmer, 10 Jump over, di'e under
., .ne W Nv anu ca'cn MN showing 'nat as
'peie were io eFoeouiies In TINS iake ne couid
come 10 no narm Enter'hg INTO The iun OF
.ne 'nihe ,ne man aid So ana soon was dodg-
'hs aoou' ai,er une winged swan In nhe style,
getting erauuaiiS nearer 70 the rock wall,
aSa'ns, "hlch 'he wafer washed as ne did So
Suoneh,y he gave up swimming after the
swan anu oesah 70 etS OUT 'nat ne was BENG
earifeu away anu niuesd We sa" that' though
ne ""s swimming "i'h ai ms strength toward
U.s. nc was Icing ora"h SLOWLY toward the
p'eeipi.e. WIN ie" uesperate strokes OF
our islaaies We Pusneu 'ne canoe 1hrougn the
erus' VI ori' ana ro"ed toward the man as
nAlu as We couia, OUT, iast as We went. he
!, vas INV ias'ei 'o""iu .ne rork. suddenly
!. "a" 'na' oeiore u.s. just rising eishteen
nneheS or :" Ine surface OF the lake, was
"ha' iooAeu 'iAe Tue 'op oi 'ne arch OF SUD-
m'ieeu cave vi 'aii"as tunnel E'hnehty,
i,oih Tue water ilarA o,i 'ue rcH several ieet